The Left has traditionally assumed that human nature is so malleable, so perfectible, that it can be shaped in almost any direction. By contrast, a Darwinian science of human nature supports traditionalist conservatives and classical liberals in their realist view of human imperfectibility, and in their commitment to ordered liberty as rooted in natural desires, cultural traditions, and prudential judgments. Arnhart's email address is larnhart1@niu.edu.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Fourth Edition of "Political Questions: Political Philosophy from Plato to Pinker"

I have finished writing the fourth edition of Political Questions: Political Philosophy from Plato to Pinker, which will be published by Waveland Press. I do not yet have the production schedule. But I assume that the book should be published sometime late this spring or early in the summer.

Here's the Prologue and the Table of Contents. You can see that it incorporates a lot of material from this blog.

Prologue

In this fourth edition,
I have changed and added material throughout the book. I have added new
chapters on Adam Smith, Leo Strauss, and Steven Pinker.

I have written
this book both for students, who might be studying the history of political
philosophy for the first time, and for scholarly experts in political
philosophy, who might find something here to stimulate (if not provoke) them.

I hope that both
novices and initiates can benefit from the way this book combines four major
features: (1) a reliance on disputed questions, (2) an emphasis on primary
texts, (3) references to issues in American political history, and (4) a
multidisciplinary approach to political philosophy.

(1) To
stimulate readers to think for themselves, I raise a series of enduring
political questions, and I leave the readers free to work out their own
answers. As much as possible, I avoid imposing my own point of view.

(2) Because
there is no good substitute for reading the original works of political
philosophy, I tie my questions to specific texts. This book is only
supplementary to reading the primary sources. The best use of this book is to
read it while reading some of the primary texts.

(3) Because
it is important for students to see how the study of political philosophy can
illuminate their political experience, I indicate how the questions raised by
political philosophers clarify issues in American politics. In particular, I
draw out some of the philosophic implications of the Declaration of
Independence.

(4) Political
philosophers make empirical claims about human nature, human culture, and
political history.To assess those
empirical claims, I argue in this book, we need to draw from relevant knowledge
gained from all of the intellectual disciplines in the natural sciences, the
social sciences, and the humanities. So,
for example, in my surveys of disputed political questions, I bring up
pertinent ideas from anthropology, biology, economics, history, psychology, and
theology. Political philosophy is best
studied as part of a multidisciplinary liberal education that aims for a
comprehensive science of nature and of human beings as part of nature.

Table of Contents

Introduction: From the
Declaration of Independence to Political Philosophy

1Political Knowledge
and Political Power: Plato’s Apology, Crito, and Republic

1. What is the political lesson of the trial of Socrates?

2. How far is a citizen obligated to obey the
laws?

3.In defining justice, how do we move from
opinions to knowledge?

4. Is justice the interest of the stronger?

5. Is justice the fulfillment of natural
needs?

6. Is justice conventional rather than
natural?

7. Is the rule of philosopher-kings meant to be a
realistic political goal?

8. Why does Socratic statesmanship require a
“noble lie”?

9. Is there any justification in nature for the
hierarchical ordering of the city and soul into three parts?

10. Must a good political order depend on a
cosmic order of divine law?

2Political Science as
the Study of Regimes: Aristotle’s Politics

1. Is the best regime good enough?

2. Does political life fulfill a natural human
end?

3. Are human beings the only animals with the
capacity for symbolic speech?

4. How do selfishness and aggression influence
political life?

5. Does Aristotle show the prejudices of his
culture in his views of slaves and women?

6. Does Aristotle’s understanding of citizenship
illuminate modern democratic politics?

7. Does Aristotle’s regime suppress individual
liberty?

8. Can we settle the conflict between oligarchic
and democratic views of justice?

9. How does the Aristotelian leader handle a
regime that is less than the best?

10. Why does Aristotle teach tyrants how to
preserve their regimes?

3The Political Realism
of Christian Theology:
Augustine’s City of God

1. Was Augustine the first political
realist?

2. Does Christian faith perfect our reasoning
about politics?

3. Is nature apart from God a reliable standard
for politics?

4. Must earthly political rule always be
unjust?

5. Must Christians be Machiavellians?

4Natural Law:
Thomas Aquinas’s “Treatise on Law”

1. What is natural law?

2. Is law the command of the sovereign backed by
threat?

3. How do human beings discover natural law?

4. Does the fact-value distinction refute the
idea of natural law?

5. Is law the joint product of nature, custom,
and stipulation?

6. Does cultural diversity contradict the idea of
natural law?

7. Must we legislate morality?

8. Is Thomistic political thought compatible
with liberal democracy?

9. Does the application of natural law to
sexual conduct, abortion, and marriage threaten individual liberty?

10. Can government rightly promote our
pursuit of the complete happiness that comes only with eternal life in
Heaven?

5Power Politics:
Machiavelli’s The Prince and Discourses

1.Is Machiavelli evil?

2. What is Machiavellian virtue?

3.In politics, does the end justify the
means?

4. Does political order require “cruelty well
used”?

5. Are democratic leaders just as selfish as
dictators in their pursuit of power?

6.Does Machiavelli elevate political power over
political wisdom?

6Liberal Rationalism:
Descartes’s Discourse on Method

1. Can the scientific method of Descartes lead us
to a free and rational society?